Baseball Reference Glossary

Hold

 What is a Hold?

A hold is an unofficial statistic awarded to a reliever who protects a lead without closing the game. To be eligible for a hold, the pitcher must enter in a save situation, which means:

  • He enters the game with a lead of no more than three runs and pitches for at least one inning
  • He enters the game, regardless of the score, with the potential tying run either on base, at bat, or on deck
  • Or he pitches at least three innings

Unlike a save, where the pitcher enters in one of those circumstances and finishes the game, a hold is awarded to a reliever who pitches in a save situation and then turns the game over to another reliever. Therefore, rather than “saving” the win, they merely “hold” it and pass it onto the next pitcher.

How is Hold used in baseball?

Holds are an unofficial statistic that measures middle reliever performance, the same way a save measures performance for closers.

Before the hold, middle relievers could be charged with a blown save, if they surrendered a lead in a save situation, but there was no corresponding positive stat for when they did their job. Holds were created to fill that gap.

How to calculate Holds?

Holds are a counting stat, so a pitcher simply gets one if they meet the requirements. As a reminder, the pitcher must enter in a save situation, meaning:

  • He enters the game with a lead of no more than three runs and pitches for at least one inning
  • He enters the game, regardless of the score, with the potential tying run either on base, at bat, or on deck
  • Or he pitches at least three innings

He must then hold the lead and turn it over to another pitcher to get credit for the Hold.

Hold Examples

Watch Tyler Matzek convert one of the highest leverage holds in recent memory, entering a two-run game with runners on 2nd and 3rd with no outs.

As holds are not an official stat, there is no official holds leaderboard. However, they are searchable in Stathead. Here is a list of the career leaders in holds.

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